SG Americas Securities LLC Makes New Investment in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED)

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 10,772 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000. SG Americas Securities LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Medifast as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MED. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Medifast by 2,000.1% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 338,228 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,376,000 after buying an additional 322,123 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Medifast by 117.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 389,951 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,509,000 after buying an additional 210,669 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Medifast by 415.1% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 215,090 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,693,000 after buying an additional 173,337 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Medifast by 20.3% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 958,610 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $20,917,000 after buying an additional 161,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Medifast by 37.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 469,216 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,238,000 after buying an additional 128,719 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.51% of the company’s stock.

Medifast Price Performance

Shares of Medifast stock opened at $17.31 on Wednesday. Medifast, Inc. has a one year low of $17.07 and a one year high of $76.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $18.61 and its 200 day moving average is $21.90. The firm has a market cap of $189.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.13.

Medifast (NYSE:MED) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.56. Medifast had a return on equity of 25.77% and a net margin of 3.81%. The company had revenue of $168.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.77 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Medifast, Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, DA Davidson reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $17.50 price target on shares of Medifast in a research report on Monday, July 22nd.

About Medifast

Medifast, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of weight loss, weight management, and healthy living products in the United States and the Asia-Pacific. It offers bars, puffs, cereal, crunchers, drinks, hearty choices, oatmeal, pancakes, pudding, soft serve, shakes, smoothies, soft bakes, and soups under the OPTAVIA, OPTAVIA ACTIVE, and Optimal Health brand names.